Revolving air-ship tower.



PATENTED FEB. 27, 1906.

S. M. FRIBDE.

REVOLVING AIR SHIP TOWER. APPLICATION FILED we. 7, 1903.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 813,549. PATENTED FEB. 27, 1906.

S. M. PRIEDE.

REVOLVING AIR SHIP TOWER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.7, 1903.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 813,549. PATENTED FEB. 27, 1906.

. S. M. FRIEDB.

REVOLVING AIR SHIP TOWER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 7, 1903.

' e SHEETS-SHEET a.

No. 813,549. PATEN'I'ED FEB. 27, 1906. S. M. FRIEDE.

REVOLVING AIR SHIP TOWER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.7, 1903.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

fflfimaea' I @941 m 13W? No. 813,549. PATENTED FEB. 27, 1906.

I s. M. PRIEDE. REVOLVING AIR SHIP TOWER. APPLICATION 211.121) AUG. 7, 190a. a .e SHEETS-SHEET5 wzfzaszsay' jfl/ewf PATENTED FEB. 27, 1906.

S. M. FRIEDE. REVOLVING AIR SHIP TOWER. APPLICATION FILED AUG.7, 190a.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL M. FRIE'DE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO REVOLVING AIR SHIP TOWER COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

REVOLVING AIR-SHIP TOWER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1906.

Annlication filed August '7, 1903. Serial No. 168.584.

T0 alZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. FRIEDE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Revolving Air-Ship Towers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in amusement apparatus and employs a rotating tower and passenger-cars in the nature of elevators that can be raised and lowered upon the tower as the structure rotates. In the contemplation of the present improvements such a tower will be mounted upon a rotating platform of large diameter, from which the cars ascend and upon which the loading and unloading of the passengers can be carried on without stopping the tower, the rotation of which can thus be continuous and without interruption or change of speed during the entire period that the apparatus is operated.

The invention further contemplates an illusory effect, by which each car will appear to its passengers to be an air-ship floating freely in the air, disconnected from any support or sustaining device. This illusion is produced by locating the cars outside of the tower and placing a mirror in each car between it and the tower, so as to cut off from the passengers all view of the supporting and sustaining mechanism and leave revealed to them only the landscape which lies on the opposite or free outer side of the car or that side remote from the tower. This air-ship illusion will desirably be further heightened by providing upon the upper works of each elevator-car an elongated cigar-shaped structure having the exterior form and appearance of the gas-bag or balloon of a modern air-ship and by providing in connection with such cigar-shaped structure one or more propeller wheels or vanes simulating the corresponding devices of self-propelling air-ships. In the carrying out of these improvements the cars will preferably be provided in pairs secured to the opposite ends of cables passing over pulleys or sheaves at the top of the tower and made of suchlength that one pair of cars will rest upon the platform when the other is raised to the top of the tower, and vice versa, the cars by this means being made to counterbalance each other and hang in equilibriumin any position between the extreme top and bottom limits of their travel,

thus insuring the safety of the apparatus and reducing the power required to lift the cars to the small amount necessary to overcome the friction of their movement.

In an approved form of the apparatus two pairs of cars will be provided and the two cars of each pair located on opposite sides of the tower from each other and arranged to be raised and lowered simultaneously, so as to balance the strain on the tower, each pair of cars being at the same time raised and lowered alternately with the other pair and the two cars of each pair being desirably connected with both of the cars of the other pair, so that the entire set of cars are bound together and caused to move simultaneously as a single system.

The lifting and lowering of the cars will desirably be accomplished by cables connected with motor-driven winding drums, which will desirably be located on the platform at the foot of the tower and within the base of the latter. Any suitable engine or prime mover, preferably an electric motor, may be employed to operate these drums, and the same motor may also conveniently be employed to rotate the tower and the platform upon which the tower rests. This platform may conveniently be mounted, somewhat after the manner of a railway turn-table, upon a roller-bearing arranged about a central pivot. which will locate and determine the axis of rotation of the apparatus, and upon one or more series of supporting-wheels arranged in a circle beneath the platform near its periphery and bearing upon a circular rail or track concentric with the central pivot. Preferably this track will be laid upon the foundation structure and the supportingwheels secured to the platform to revolve with it, and in such case the rotating of the tower may conveniently be accomplished by driving one or more of the supporting-wheels from a motor on the platform, which motor may or may not be the same that is used to drive the hoisting-drums for raising and low ering the air-ship cars.

Other and normally idle wheels will also desirably be provided beneath the platform in such manner as to hook over a circular track and resist any tendency of the tower and platform to be upset by wind-pressure or otherwise. This latter track, preferably and as herein shown, will be secured to the platform and may conveniently be the flan e of an I beam or channel forming a part of the framework of the platform, the wheels which hook over this flange being in such case anchored to the foundation by suitable bolts, so that a tilting of the platform at any point cannot take place unless the positive connection between these wheels and the circular beam on the platform is broken by actual rupture of some of the parts.

The invention also contemplates various details of improvement hereinafter set forth, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and will be fully understood from the following description of the con struction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which I Figure 1 is a side elevation of a revolving air-ship tower constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 shows a detail view, in side elevation, of the top and bottom of the tower and the hoisting-drums on the platform beneath the tower. Fig. 4 is a top lan View of those portions of the apparatus s own in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detailed view of the guide sheaves or connecting-ropes of the two pairs of cars. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of one of the cars. Fig. 7 is a sectional side elevation thereof, taken on line 7 7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a top plan detail of the mechanism by which the imitation propeller-wheels are caused to rotate as the cars are raised and lowered on the tower. Fig. 9 is a fragmentary detail showing the manner in which the platform is supported and driven on its circular track and is held down upon such track against any wind-pressure or other influence tending to upset the tower. Fig. 10 is a detail of the central supporting and pivoting devices of the platform and tower.

In said drawings, 1 designates the tower, and 2 the rotating platform upon-which the tower is mounted. The tower itself will be constructed of any suitable framework, preferably of steel,and is herein shown as an essentiallyfoursided affair, but has the cornerspaces between its sides as they diverge toward the bottom of the tower filled in by lattice-work 3, which gives the tower a somewhat octagonal appearance, especially toward its lower end or base. The particular construction of the tower is not, however, of impor tance as to the few details hereinafter pointed out.

In the approved construction shown and as hereinbefore stated these cars are four in number and are arranged in two pairs 4 5 and 6 7, of which the two cars constituting each pair are arranged on opposite sides of the tower from each other and are raised and lowered simultaneously, each pair of cars, however, being raised and lowered alternately with the other pair. All of the cars are at the same time connected together, so that the cars of one pair act to counterbalance the cars of the other pair and in such manner that no movement of any car can occur in either direction without an accompanying movement of all the other cars. This arrangement is brought about in the present instance by securing the car 4 of the pair of cars 4 5 to the ends of a pair of counterbalancing-cables 8 9, of which the cable 8 is secured at its other end to the car 6 of the other pair of cars 6 7, while the cable 9 is secured at its other end to the car 7, and by also securing the car 5 of the pair of cars 4 5 to the ends of a pair of counterbalancing-cables 10 11, of which the cable 10 is secured at its other end to the car 6 of the pair of cars 6 7, while the cable 11 is secured at its other end to the car 7. To render these connections possible, it is necessary that the several cables shall not only be trained over projecting sheaves or pulleys 12, secured to the edges of the tower at its top and arranged to rotate in vertical planes, but that each be given a quarter-turn about a sheave 13, located at the middle of the top of the tower and arranged to rotate in a horizontal plane. Such a horizontal supportingsheave 13 is herein shown as provided for each of the four cables 8, 9, 10, and 11; but all four sheaves are conveniently secured upon a common vertical stud or shaft 15, the lower end of which is made fast at the intersection of transverse beams 16, which extend in opposite directions across the tower at its top, while its upper end is held by a yoke 17, which is carried by one of the beams 16 and extends over the several sheaves 13 and partially incloses them, thus giving a firm support to the sheaves. There is not, however, any great amount of strain tending to shift the bearing pin or shaft from its normal position at the center of the tower, for the reason that the resultant pressures of the several sheaves on this bearing pin or shaft, due to the pull of the cables which partially encircle them, are applied in four directions at right angles to each other, and consequently serve to equalize each other, Fig. 5.

The hoisting of the cars is herein shown as accomplished by four sets of hoisting-cables, two for each car, connected with a double hoisting-drum 18, herein shown as located upon the platform 2, centrally beneath the tower. Of these cables the inner pair 19 are shown as rising vertically to sheaves 20 on the inside of the top of the tower and as passing thence outwardly over sheaves 21 on the outside of the tower and down to the car 7, towhich they are connected. The next innermost pair of cables 22 rise from the same side of the drum 18 to sheaves 23, located on the inside of the top of the tower opposite the sheaves 20, and are trained thence outwardly over outer sheaves 24 down to the car 6, to which they are connected.

The two outer cables 25 at one end of the drum extend up to sheaves 26 on the inside of the top of the tower, thence at right angles around horizontal sheaves 27 to vertical sheaves 28 outside of the top of the tower, and thence downwardly to the car 4,

to which they are connected. The two end cables 29 at the other end of the drum extend up over sheaves 30, thence around horizontal sheaves 27, located on the inside of the tower opposite the sheaves 27, then over sheaves 31 on the outside of the car and down to the car 5, to which they are connected.

The two pairs of cables 19 and 22, connected with the cars 6 and 7, .are wound about the drum in the same direction, and consequently simultaneously raise and lower this pair of cars as the drum is rotated. The end pairs of cables 25 and 29, connected with the cars 4 and 5, are wound about the drum in the opposite direction from the cables 19 and 22, but in the same direction as each other, and consequently serve to simultaneously raise and lower the cars 4 5 when the drum is rotated.

The rotating of the drum is herein shown as accomplished by a worm 32, which engages a worm-wheel 33 on the shaft of the drum. The worm 32 has a pulley 35 secured to it, and this pulley is belted to a motor 34,

so that the rotation of the motor will set the worm-gearing and drum in rotation. The direction of this rotation, and consequently the movement of the cars, may be controlled by a suitable reversing switch or gear applied to the motor or to its driving connections with the drum and not herein illustrated.

The approved form of car herein illustrated I consists of a cage 36,which for safety is shown as entirely inclosed by glass or wire-netting and is accessible only through doors 37 in the end of the car, Fig. 1. One or more tiers of seats 38 are provided within the cage, and these seats all face outwardly, so that the passengers within the car have their gaze naturally directed away from the tower and toward the open landscape. Their view toward the tower is furthermore cut off by lining the back of the car with a mirror 39, which will not only prevent their seeing the tower, but will reflect the sky and open landscape on the outer side of the car and make it appear as though the back of the car was also open. Mirrors 40 will also be provided at the end of the cars to any extent which may be necessary to completely out off the view of any part of the tower from the passengers within the car.

For guiding the car upon the tower the lat ter is provided on each of its four sides with parallel guide-rails 41, against which bearingwheels 42 at the top and bottom of the car may travel. These guide-rails 41 are made of angle-iron, and the car is provided at its top with safety-wheels 43, which hook behind the flanges of the guide-rails 41 and render it impossible for the car to swing out away from the tower either from wind-pressure or otherwise.

The air-ship illusion is further heightened by providing on the top of each car an elongated-cigar structure 44, from which a car will appear to be suspended to the view of the passengers within the car, who may look u this structure through the open grating whicfi forms the top of the car, but which is arranged to cut off the view of the real supporting and guiding connections. This imitationair-ship structure is furthermore shown as provided at its ends and on the one side of the car with propeller-wheels 45, having the appearance of the similar devices commonly employed on air-ship structures at the pres ent day. These propeller-wheels may be set in motion by any suitable mechanism, but are herein shown as driven by belted connection 46 from one of the bearing-wheels 42, this connection serving to drive a longitudinal shaft 47, to which the end of the propellers are secured and which is connected b suitable gearing with the shafts 48 of the side propellers, Figs. 7 and 8.

A suitable manner of rotatably mounting the platform 2, upon which the tower is carried, is shown in detail in Figs. 9 and 10. Here the center of the platform is pivoted upon a heavy vertical pin 50, the reduced upper end 51 of which extends through an apparatus in the upper web 52 of the platform, while its enlarged base 53 is embraced by a center casting 54 of the platform, this casting resting firmly upon antifriction-rollers 55, which in turn rest and travel upon a foundation-plate 56, to which the pin 50 is attached and which is anchored into a concrete base 57 by bolts 58.

A circular track 59 is also arranged on this concrete base concentric with the pivot 50 and at any desired radial distance therefrom, and suitable bearing-wheels 60 are j ournaled on the under side of the platform to rest and travel upon this track. One or more of these wheels are shown as provided with wormgearing 61, from which a belted connection 62 leads up to a suitable motor 32 on the platform for the purpose of rotating the platform and tower about the pivot 50. In case the motor 34, which drives the hoisting-drums, is arranged to rotate constantly in one direction, as where a mechanical reversing-gear is inserted in the driving-connection with the hoisting-drums, this motor may also be employed to drive the wheel 60 and rotate the platform; but otherwise a separate motor will be needed, as it is contemplated that the rotary movement of the platform will be continuous so long as the apparatus is in operation.

A circular safety-rail 63 is also herein shown as secured to the under side of the platform just outside of the supporting- ICC IIO

wheels 60,. this rail being made in the shape of an-angle-iron with a lower horizontal flange which projects beneath a number of safetywheels or rollers 64, the bearings of which are securely anchored into the concrete base 57 at 65. These wheels 64 are normally inoperative but in case the tower should tend to tip overas, for example, by reason of the excessive wind-pressure of a violent storm the engagement of these wheels with the safety-rail 63 would prevent the platform from lifting at any point, and consequently from tilting so as to permit the tower to leave its normally upright position even in a slight degree.

In using an apparatus of this character it is contemplated that the rate .at which the platform and tower are rotated will be slow enough to permit passengers to step off and on the platform without difficulty or danger and without requiring the rotary movement to be stopped or the speed of the movement lessened. WVhen the passengers are once on the platform, they may leave and enter the cars without regard to its rotary movement, since the cars land on the platform and are rotated with it and the tower as a part of the same system. The arrangement of the cars in pairs, in which the two cars constituting each pair are raised and lowered together and located on opposite sides of the tower serve to perfectly balance the strains on the latter, no matter in what position the ears may be, and at the same time the manner in which the several cars are tied together and made to counterbalance each other practically does away with the possibility of accident, even if the hoisting cables and mechanism should fail, and also reduces to about nothing the power required to operate the cars.

The air-ship illusion produced by this apparatus is most perfect. Looking toward the front or outer side of the car or toward its ends, the passengers will see nothing but the open landscape about them. Looking to the rear, they will see only the reflection of the view in front of them. Looking up, they will see the elongated balloon structure from which the ear is apparently suspended and rotating vanes or propeller-wheels, which apparently give movement to the car. From every point of view the tower itself, with the attendant supporting and guiding devices for the car, will be invisible to the passengers in the car, which will to all appearances be as completely cut oil from connection with the earth as though it were actually the car of a floating air-ship.

The illusion produced in this case, furthermore, is vastly more perfect than that which is obtained with ordinary illusion apparatus in which artificial scenery and painted canvas are relied upon to produce the illusory effect, the entire scenery and effects in this case being natural landscape appearing exactly as it would appear to genuine air-ship voyagers.

Various changes may obviously be made in the details of the construction shown with out departure from the broad spirit of the invention claimed.

I claim as my invention 1. An air-ship illusion comprising a tower, cars mounted to travel up and down on the exterior of the tower, and mirrors in the cars cutting off the tower from the view of the passengers within the ear, substantially as described.

2. An air-ship illusion comprising a rotating tower, cars mounted to travel up and down on the exterior of the tower, and mirrors in the cars cutting off the tower from the view of the passengers within the car and reflecting to their eyes the natural landscape around the car, substantially as described.

3. An air-ship illusion comprising a tower, an elevator-car mounted to travel up and down on the tower, and an imitation-air-ship structure secured to each car and apparently supporting it, substantially as described.

4. An air-ship illusion comprising a tower, an elevator-car mounted to travel up and down on the tower, an imitation -air-ship structure secured to the car and apparently supporting it, and rotary propellers connected with the air-ship structure, substantially as described.

5. An air-ship illusion comprising a tower, ears mounted to travel up and down on the tower, means for cuttingoff the tower from the view of the passengers in the cars, and an imitationair-ship structure secured to each car and apparently supporting it, substantially as described.

6. An air-ship illusion comprising a tower, elevator-cars mounted to travel up and down on the tower, means for cutting ofi the tower from the view of the passengers within the cars, an imitation-air-ship structure secured to each car and apparently supporting it, and rotary propellers connected with the air-ship structure and apparently driving it, substantially as described.

7. An air-ship illusion comprising a tower, cars mounted to travel up and down on the tower, means for cutting off the tower from the view of the passengers within the cars, propellers mounted'on the cars and apparently driving them, and means for rotating the propellers from the rising and falling movement of the ear, substantially as described.

8. An air-ship illusion comprising a tower, cars mounted to travel up and down on the exterior of the tower, means for cutting off the tower from the view of the passengers within the cars, an imitationair-ship structure secured to each car and apparently supporting it, rotary propellers connected with the airship structure and apparently driving it, and means for rotating the propellers from the rising and falling movement of the cars, substantially as described.

9. An air-ship illusion comprising a tower, cars mounted to travel up and down on the tower, means for cutting off thetower from the view of the passengers within the car, rotary propellers mounted on the cars and apparently driving them, guide-wheels on the cars rotatably engaging guides on the tower, and connections between said propellers and guide-wheels for rotating the propellers when the car is moved on the tower, substantially as described. a

10. An air-ship illusion comprising a tower, cars mounted to travel up and down on the exterior of the tower, mirrors in the cars cutting ofl the tower from the view of the passengers within the cars, and an imitation air-ship structure secured to each car and apparently supporting it, substantially as described.

1 1. An air-ship illusion comprising a tower, elevator-cars mounted to travel up and down on the exterior of the tower, mirrorsin the car for cutting off the tower from the view of the passengers within the cars, an imitation-airship structure secured to each car and apparently supporting it, and rotary propellers connected with the air-ship structure and apparently driving it, substantially as described.

12. An air-ship illusion comprising a rotating tower having elevatorcars, a rotating platform from which the cars may be loaded and unloaded without stopping the tower, and mirrors in the cars cutting ofi the tower from the view of the passengers within the cars, substantially as described.

13. An air-ship illusion comprising a rotating tower, cars mounted to travel up and down on the exterior of the tower, mirrors in the cars cutting off the tower from the view of the passengers within the car, and a rotating platform from which the cars may be loaded and unloaded without stopping the tower, substantially as described.

14. An air-ship illusion comprising a rotating tower, an elevator-car, means on the tower for raising and lowering the elevatorcar, and an imitation-air-ship structure secured to each car and apparently supporting it, substantially as described.

15. An air-ship illusion comprising a rotating tower, an elevatorcar, means on the tower for raising and lowering the elevatorcar, an imitationairship structure secured to each car and apparently supporting it, and rotary propellers connected with the air-ship structure and apparently driving it, substantially as described.

16. An air-ship illusion comprising a rotary tower, an elevator-car, means on the tower for raising and lowering the elevatorcar, means for cutting ofl the tower from the view of the passengers within the car, and an imitation-air-ship structure secured to the car and apparently supporting it, substantially as described.

17. An air-ship illusion comprising a rotary tower, an elevator-car, means on the tower for raising and'lowering the elevatorcar, means for cutting ofi' the tower from the view of the passengers within the car, an imitation-air-ship structure secured to the car and apparently supporting it, and rotary propellers connected to the air-ship structure and apparently driving it, substantially as described.

18. An air-ship illusion comprising a rotary tower, an elevator-car, means on the tower for raising and lowering the elevatorcar, means for cutting off the tower from the view of the passengers within the car, an imitation-air-ship structure secured to the car and apparently supporting it, and propellers mounted on the car and apparently driving it, and means for rotating the propellers from the rising andfalling movement of the car, substantially as described.

19. An air-ship illusion comprising a rotating tower, an elevator-car, means for moving the car up and down on the tower, pro ellers mounted on the car and apparently criving it, guide-wheels on the car rotatably engaging guides on the tower, and connection between said propellers and guides for actuating the propellers when the car is moved on the tower, substantially as described.

20. The combination with a tower, of elevator-cars arranged in a plurality of sets of two cars each, the two sets of cars being connected together to counterbalance each other, and means for simultaneously raising one set of cars and lowering the other set, substantially as described.

21. The combination with a tower, of elevator-cars arranged in a plurality of sets of two cars each, the two sets of cars being connected together to counterbalance each other, and the two cars of each set being arranged on opposite sides of the tower from each other, and means for simultaneously raising one set of cars and lowering the other set, substantially as described.

- 22. The combination with a tower, of elevator-cars arranged in a plurality of sets of two cars each, the two sets of cars being connected together to counterbalance each other by cables which connect each car of each set with both cars of the other set, and means for simultaneously raising one set of cars and lowering the other set, substantially as described.

23. The combination with a tower, of elevator-cars arranged in a plurality of sets of two cars each, the two sets of cars being connected together to counterbalance each other by cables which connect each car of each set with both cars of the other set, the two cars of each set being arranged on opposite sides of the tower from each other, and means for simultaneously raising one set of cars and lowering the other set, substantially as described.

24. The combination with arotating tower, of elevator-cars arranged in a plurality of sets of two cars each, the two sets of cars being connected together to counterbalance each other, and the two cars of each set being arranged on opposite sides of the tower from each other, means for simultaneously raising one set of cars and lowering the other set, and a rotating platform from which the cars may be loaded and unloaded without stopping the tower, substantially as described.

25. The combination with a rotating tower, of elevator-cars arranged in a plurality of sets of two cars each, the two sets of cars being connected together to counterbalance each other by cables which connect each set with both cars of the other set, means for simultaneously raising one set of cars and lowering the other set, and a rotating platform from which the cars may be loaded and unloaded without stopping the tower, substantially as described.

26. The combination with a rotating tower, of elevator-cars arranged in a plurality of sets of two cars each, the two sets of cars being connected together to counterbalance each other by cables which connect each car of each set with both the cars of the other set, the two cars of each set being arranged on opposite sides of the tower from each other, means for simultaneously raising one set of cars and lowering the other set, and a rotating platform from which the cars may be loaded and unloaded without stopping the tower, substantially as described.

27. The combination with a tower, of elevator-cars arranged in a plurality of sets of two cars each, the two sets of cars being connected together to counterbalance each other by cables which connect each car of each set with both cars of the other set, said cables passing over vertical sheaves at the top of the tower, and each making a quarter-turn around a horizontal sheave at the top of the tower between the vertical sheaves, and means for simultaneously raising one set of cars and lowering the other set, substantially as described.

28. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a rotary tower, a carriage on its exterior, means for simultaneously rotating the tower and moving the carriage up and down thereon, said carriage having its front open and its walls adapted to obscure a view by the passengers of the tower and the operating mechanism.

29. In combination, a tower, a plurality of observation-carriages mounted on the exterior of the tower, means for simultaneously rotating the tower and moving the carriages up and down the tower, said carriages having olpen fronts and opaque back walls, whereby t 1e tower and the operating mechanism are obscured from the sight of the passengers, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature, in presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 1st day of.

August, A. D. 1903.

SAMIJ'EL M. FRIEDE.

Witnesses:

G. M. MOLTER, K. A. CosTELLo. 

